Indie Author Weekly Roundup September 9, 2016

Fall is around the corner but the daytime temperatures still reach into the 80s where I live. And whereas parts of the East Coast have been battered by rain, the hills are brown and drive in California, even Northern California. Let’s hope that changes this winter. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s enjoy the final days of summer, shall we?

Indie Author Weekly Roundup

5 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid When Publishing Your First Book from BookWorks and by Frances Caballo: “We all make mistakes, right? And we learn from them – well most of the time. Joel Friedlander of TheBookDesigner.com frequently tells me that when he talks to new authors about what they should do once they publish a book, he usually tells them something to the effect of, “You should have prepared for your first book two years ago.” Ouch. But he’s right, of course.”

Goodreads for Authors: Why Forbes Calls it The Most Important Networking Site on the Internet & How You Can Benefit! from Lisa Tener: “Consider this quote from Forbes: “Goodreads has become the most important networking site on the Internet . . .” Forbes may be overstating the issue, but it’s true that Goodreads is the most important networking site first for readers, and secondly for authors. Presently, Goodreads has 50 million members, 1.5 billion books that are listed, and 50 million reviews. It’s important to remember that Goodreads members are educated, many have graduate degrees, and they are avid readers. These factors make it the perfect networking site for readers and authors.”

Twitter for Authors: An Interview with Rusty Shelton by Lisa Tener: “I first met Rusty Shelton before Twitter existed – for authors or anyone. We met when my book, The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Anger came out over a decade ago. Rusty’s approach to book publicity was so far beyond anything else out there. And the personal attention he and his colleagues gave our book was far superior to the boilerplate template we received from other book publicists as we looked for someone we could trust with ‘our baby.'”

How to get a book trailer made for $30 via Derek Murphy: “I think I spent $250 on my first book trailer, but I don’t do them anymore. There are better ways to market books, and it’s one more thing that sucks up time and energy. However, I have thought about the idea of grabbing some cool movie clips from Video Hive and getting someone on Fiverr to put them together. My friend David actually did that for his book and shared it on Facebook. The following is his post, and trailer.”